War on Burmecia
by Robshi
Summary: A story about the Alexandrian attack on the Burmecian Realm. Frato, Fratley and Puck are in a race for survival.
1. Invasion

It had been nearly three years since Lady Freya had left Burmecia to search for Sir Fratley. Things were dull in Burmecia as usual, the rain poured down into the city as it always did, the Dragon Knights doing their usual business of patrolling the city and its gates to prevent crime and danger.

Sir Frato only managed to idle the time way by training fiercely with his father, Sir "Lion-heart" Fratley. Frato was not Lion-heart's biological son, he had been adopted. He had been abandoned as a baby, probably due to the fact he has a half-breed Burmecian, a freak that showed both human and Burmecian characteristics. This included shorter, lighter fur, a half snout and a smaller tail as well as small Burmecian ears which stuck not too far out of the top of his head. He had fierce blue eyes and short, messy brown hair and had five digits on both hands and feet, which still had long sharp nails although they were broken easier than the claw-like nails of a Burmecian.

Frato had considered leaving Burmecia a few times himself after his brother left to fight General Beatrix. Frato wanted a challenge, for something to happen other than the yearly tournament held at the Royal Palace. Although he didn't really want to leave the Dragon Knights, plus he didn't know where he would go. He had enough malicious rumours and snide looks from people in Burmecia; he daren't think what people would do to him in another city.

However, one day whilst he was on duty guarding the southern gate of the city, something did happen. News had reached Burmecia that the North Gate not far outside of the city had been breached. Only one Burmecian made it back and had suffered terrible burns. Burmecia was on high-alert and Frato found it had become rather crowded at the southern gate, with a small squadron of Dragon Knights fully armed with knives and spears. The gate was also firmly shut and locked. Frato had never witnessed anything like this before.

They were coming, a bunch of unusual black creatures with pointed hats and white gloves and unusual robes and garments. They were all marching mindlessly towards the gates, as if oblivious to the crowd of Burmecians guarding the gate. As the creatures came close to the gate, the entire first row of monsters raised their arms together. As their arms reached high above the heads, they froze for a brief second to gather energy, before...

"KILL!"

Large fireballs were thrown out of their hands and directly at the gate, the flame licked through the bars of the gate and knocked over about five of six Burmecians before they could even react.

Frato watched in horror as six of his comrades were knocked down flat with the attack, the other Burmecians barely looked at them as they were focused on the monsters in front of them. The mages were building up a second attack, obviously to finish off the Burmecians they had missed.

Frato and one or two others decided to leap onto the top of the gate so they could get out of reach of the attack and try and give the creatures a taste of steel. Lances rained down onto the mages, who were pierced through the heart but gave no blood, instead just falling over frozen in their positions. However, that wasn't enough to finish off the group of mages, who fired their second wave of fire at the squadron, this time knocking down everyone, only leaving Frato and another soldier.

Frato knew it would be him next, but he wondered if it would be possible to knock out the rest of the squad of these monsters. That was until his eyes caught the distance. Another group of mages was making its way towards the gate. Frato could not hope to try and take out a whole squad of these monsters by himself.

Another squad of Burmecian soldiers had heard the battle taking place and arrived to try and quell the attack on the front gate. Those creatures could not be allowed to infiltrate the city. The second group of soldiers reached the gate, along with Frato.

The creatures outside now tried to break down the main gate into the city by using their fire magic to blast at the lock of the gate instead of attacking Burmecians. The squadron of Burmecians reached the gate and prepared to attack, just in time to see the gate being forced open by the mages. The front row of the squad charged towards the mages with blades poised to skewer, whilst the back row of knights, which included Frato prepared Dragon Knight skills to try and blast the mages with their own magic.

"KILL!"

Fireballs flew at the entire front row of Burmecians, causing practically all of them to fall over, dead. The mages started to prepare a second wave of fire, evidently to try and wipe out the rest of the squadron. However, Frato and some of the other knights had already charged up their abilities and fired them at the mages. Streams of petals covered the mages and exploded in a massive wave of fire reducing the squad of mages to a pile of charred and lifeless dolls.

As the last mage fell, Frato breathed easy with a few of his comrades, and Frato walked towards the gate to shut and lock it for a second time. However, just as he started to pull the gates towards him he heard a shout from behind him.

"Sir Frato!" A Burmecian knight screamed. "Look out!"

Frato looked, and saw another black mage approaching, with another army of mages behind it. The black mage closest to him raised it arms and gathered the energy it needed. Frato dived out the way as the fire shot out of the mages hands, and yet it managed to hit Frato's right arm. Another Burmecian stepped in and rammed his spear through the creature's head. Frato managed to scramble to his feet and rushed back through the gateway.

"Sir, are you alright?" One of the other soldiers asked him.

"I'm fine." Frato seethed. The burn on his arm was clearly visible, and he was clutching it protectively with his other hand. He daren't move it, yet his lance was still clutched in his right hand.

The knight tried to grab his right arm to look at the burn but Frato pushed him away before pointing at the gate, which was receiving another burst of flame from the mages.

This was becoming ridiculous. It didn't seem to matter how many mages the Burmecians managed to slay, there was always another squad of them to take their place. There were only a finite number of soldiers, which was growing slimmer with each attack on the gate. It was only a matter of time before the front gate of Burmecia was breached as well.

Frato decided to try and prepare another Dragon Knight skill, whilst trying to get a good distance from the gate to try and ensure the mages would not hit him whilst he was focusing on the spell. The remaining Burmecian soldiers were leaping up into the air to evade the barrage of fire from the mages and several spears and swords rained down onto the mages below, taking out another small squadron of mages. Frato finished the spell and unleashed it; a stream of green and white steam poured out of his lance and shrouded both him and the team of Burmecians in front of him. Slowly, the magic of Rei's Wind worked as the burns of the mages slowly healed themselves on Frato and his comrades. After the spell had finished, Frato gave a little smile as he saw the pile of mages in front of him.

He walked to the gate once again, and looked out for any more signs of these mysterious mages. Frato gave a look of disbelief as he looked out into the mist, and could make out the faint shape of another group of mages coming out of the mist, the faint sounds of their chants of "KILL!" could be heard from the distance by even Frato's ears. However, this time the group of mages seemed to be even larger than most of the previous waves.

"How many of these things are there!" Frato said to himself in disbelief. He turned to alert the other knights. "There's an even bigger wave coming. Prepare yourselves."

"Sir, we have to retreat for the moment." Sir Leo spoke up. "We are becoming hopelessly outnumbered and we need to tell his majesty and protect the civilians. These monsters are going to breach this gate eventually."

Frato gave an irritated sigh before he quickly swung the gate shut. Much as he did not want to admit it, Leo was right. The group of knights guarding the gate was becoming slimmer with each assault and now there was an even bigger group of mages coming to attack the gate. These creatures would come through, and if there was no-one left to fight them they would almost certainly kill everyone and anyone in Burmecia.

"We have to retreat and regroup." Leo spoke aloud, addressing the remaining soldiers and knights. "We must warn the King and the civilians. All of you must alert the civilians and gather as many warriors as possible. The army should be on standby and should be able to stop the monsters before they get too far into the city. I will inform his majesty and see what orders he may wish to give. Now move!"

Upon that order, the remaining members of the Burmecian squad saluted and the group fled back into the city to bring more reinforcements and to protect the citizens. Meanwhile, the black mages eventually reached the gate and bombarded it with their fire magic, eventually breaking through and marching into the city.

* * *

Disclaimer: All characters and locations from Final Fantasy IX are not mine, but they belong to Sqauresoft. Unfortunately, they abused my favourite race in Final Fantasy: the Burmecians. Now I am writing about the misery Square put them though, because I am obsessed. Frato belongs to me.

Author's Rant: This is the apparent sequel to Burmecian Chronicles, as it picks up from where that left off. However, you don't really need to read it if you don't want to as this stands on its own as a full story (unlike most sequels of fanfictions posted here). I reintroduced Frato for you, who is really the only new thing that could need explaining for you. Anyway, I shall respond to the reviews from the end of Burmecian Chronicles:

Red Mage Hikaru: Glad you're enjoying it. I hope you enjoy this!

Dazz Cambo: Nice to see some people are still giving Burmecian Chronicles a chance, I took a look at the hits for this story and found that it became inexplicably popular after chapter 35. Well, I'll see how this goes. It's been so long since I wrote chapter 1 I barely remember what I wrote. You had a point with April's comment.

Breeze of Summoners: You're alive! You've started reviewing me again! And you've suggested so many things so fast my brain nearly exploded! Firstly, about the tournament, I think I made it boring mainly because I made it far too long, it took up most of the Burmecian Chronicles. It was for sport, and when I showed Fratley using Dragon's Breath you said you thought he was trying to kill his opponent. Many of the skills are too powerful, and with throwing the lance I figured it would count as being disarmed...  
I thought Frato seemed himself throughout, although that scene with Freya when she leaves could be fixed up a bit to be a little more believable. You see, he is very competitive and bloodthirsty for a knight, but he wouldn't want to kill innocent Burmecians, Burmecia is really the only place he knows and he doesn't want to be thrown out or killed for murder. He doesn't even want Freya dead, he just wants her doing housework, or at the very least to prove that he is stronger than her and men are better than women at combat.  
The punctuation seems to be something everyone has a problem with. I think I need to get a beta-reader from somewhere, although I have no idea where. Commas seem to be the biggest problem, and it isn't helped by this stupid grammar checker.  
Puck seemed concerned about Freya and her reaction to Fratley in the game, and I think he is as stubborn as ever.  
Glad to see you back though, hopefully you will stay up to date with this story. That was one long reply, but you gave a long trail of reviews! I did look at Pacifists Sword, but the setting reminded me too much of Romeo and Juliet, and I didn't like the far-future setting. Go and finish Let Fear Propel You Forward! You just abandoned it!


	2. War has Begun

War had begun in Burmecia, the ranks of Dragon knights and Burmecian soldiers were fighting the black demons that were causing havoc in the rainy city. As soon as the creatures had breached through the main gate they began using their magic to destroy buildings and kill innocent citizens who had been unlucky to cross their path. The presence of the mages could be felt by the Burmecians in the city as smoke rose up from the burning fires from buildings attacked by the mages.

Frato and a few others had gathered together a large group of Burmecian soldiers and Dragon knights, assembling a good fraction of the Burmecian army. The troops marched towards the billowing smoke near the gates, with lances and short-swords poised and eyes and ears alert to try and locate the mages. It wasn't long before their ears detected the monotone chant of "KILL!" from the black mages. Their eyes then saw the figures of the black mages marching through the rain; arms raised gathering energy for their spells.

A charge command was issued by one of the senior Dragon knights and the army raced towards the mages with their weapons poised to impale. Some of the knights leapt onto nearby buildings and threw their lances at the group of mages, causing the mages to fall over and cease moving. A barrage of fire spells was then fired at the advancing Burmecian army killing the front line. The second line of the Burmecian troops managed to reach the mages and slash many of them down but the mages quickly prepared another barrage of spells to cause them to fall.

Frato began to see the pattern emerging of Black mages using fire, Burmecians reaching them and slaying them, before another wave of fire was unleashed. He had already thrown his lance at one of the mages and decided it was currently too dangerous to try and retrieve it. He started preparing a Dragon knight ability in his palms, gathering white energy which caused his hands to glow. A few of the other Dragon Knights were also charging up some of their own abilities as well. Unfortunately, some of the knights were paying too much attention on building up their attack and did not see some of black mages at the back of the squadron firing spells at the rooftops they were standing on. Only Frato and three or four of the other Dragon Knights managed to leap out of the way of the spells whilst charging their attacks.

The Dragon Knights finished charging their attacks, and cries of "Cherry Blossom!" and "Dragon's Breath!" were shouted from the rooftops. Petals poured into the group of mages as two or three dragon heads appeared on the rooftops in the hands of the Dragon Knights. The petals burst into flame, engulfing a good number of the mages as the dragon heads fired energy blasts into the mages at the back of the squadron. The soldiers who were charging had backed off as the attacks exploded in a light of fury of their enemies.

When the dust had settled, there was a pile of black mage corpses littering the streets. The Burmecians roared to celebrate their victory over the squadron of mages. The Dragon knights picked up their lances and some started to check the bodies of those who had fallen to check whether they were alive or just wounded. When Frato had retrieved his lance he jumped back onto the rooftop he had attacked the mages from. He scanned into the distance to check for signs of any more mages. One of the Dragon knights called the attention of the army of Burmecian soldiers from the front of the squad. He began to speak.

"Good work knights! We have proved victorious over these black demons! However, we must now tend to the wounded and secure the southern gate..."

"We've not won." A voice called out.

The Dragon Knight turned angrily to look at the source of the voice and saw Frato, stood firmly on the rooftop gazing into the distance. His face was filled with a look of concern.

"What did you say!" The Dragon Knight asked incredulously.

"We've not won. Not yet." Frato repeated before pointing out towards the southern gate. "Look."

The Dragon Knight leapt up onto the rooftop where Frato was standing and looked where Frato was pointing. His expression changed slowly to one of horror when he saw another large squadron of mages marching done the streets towards them. The knight turned towards the army beneath him and began barking out instructions.

"Prepare yourselves for battle! Take your positions! There is another group of mages coming!"

The Burmecian soldiers followed the order and they attacked the second group of mages in the same fashion as the last squadron. Mages were slain, Burmecian's were blasted down with fire by fireballs that were flying everywhere and Dragon Knight incantations were exploding across the street which had become a bloody battlefield. Once the second group of mages had eventually fallen, there was only a small handful of soldiers left standing. The rest were either dead or seriously wounded by burns. After the battle the standing soldiers began attending to those who had been knocked down by the mages and trying to heal those who were wounded. Frato came down from his perch on the rooftop to help, but not before he ensured that another soldier had taken his place there to keep watch for more mages. They did not want to be ambushed whilst they were attending to the injured. It wasn't too long before the Burmecian Frato had stationed on the roof shouted a warning to his comrades below.

"There are more demons coming!" The Burmecian screamed. "Take cover!"

"We must pull back and regroup!" One of the few remaining Dragon Knights stated. "Let us retreat into the city!"

All of the able Burmecians carried some of their wounded comrades before spreading out and hastily making their way into the city. Frato and two of the other Dragon Knights headed towards the palace. When they were halfway along the route to the palace they saw Leo running up to them. He stopped in front of them before speaking urgently.

"His majesty has ordered me to inform all the knights to evacuate the citizens from the city." Leo spoke whilst taking deep breaths. "We must save as many lives as we can."

"Where is the King?" One of the Dragon Knights inquired.

"He is being escorted out of the city with some of the royal guards to Cleyra." Leo answered. "He is leaving outside of the west gate. I suggest we get the citizens through the same gate as quickly as we can. The city is becoming far too dangerous."

"Let's spread out and search for the citizens." Frato ordered. "Now! Those demons are making their way down here!"

The Dragon Knights obeyed and ran out in search for citizens. Frato banged on the door on the various houses, shouting to see if there was anyone inside. A couple of the doors opened to reveal shocked Burmecian women. Frato ushered them out, yelling "Come on! The demons are coming! We have to take you to West gate!" The women obeyed, although a few went back inside to bring out their children. One of the other Dragon Knights rounded them together and led them towards the West Gate. Frato decided to travel further into the city to look for other citizens. Thankfully, word had already got round to most of the inner parts of the rainy city and most of the homes had already been evacuated.

After checking the inner-city Frato decided to head towards the western gate himself to ensure that the citizens had escaped. He leapt onto a rooftop nearby and started leaping towards the West Gate. Through the rain he could see the billowing smoke from burning houses which seemed to be getting closer towards the Royal Palace.

"Just what are these creatures?" Frato thought to himself as he bounded across the rooftops. "What is the purpose behind their destructive warpath? Who is controlling them?"

Frato managed to reach West Gate and he saw the citizens being lead out of the open gate, some were travelling out as families although many were travelling out as groups. Lion-heart was guarding the gate and watching the area along with Leo and a few other knights.

"Sir Frato!" Leo called out as he landed. "Good to see you're safe."

"Likewise." Frato said nodding at Leo and Lion-heart. He looked at his father. "Where's mother?"

"She has already escaped with some of the other knights and their families." Lion-heart replied. "Sir Leo and I have been given orders to keep a lookout for the mages and to ensure that the citizens are evacuated safely."

"I've been searching the area for civilians." Frato stated. "Everyone near the palace has been shifted, I'm going to go and check the east side of the city."

"Very well, I will come with you." Lion-heart replied. "Sir Leo, keep a lookout from this gate. If the mages come here, find us and we'll take the civilians through one of the other gates."

"Yes sir." Leo answered affirmatively with a short salute.

"The black demons are heading towards the royal palace." Frato warned. "We may have to go near the Southern gate on our way to the eastern side of the city."

"We'll need to be careful." Lion-heart added. "Let's go." The two knights took off and left Leo to watch the gate.

* * *

Disclaimer: Look, I don't own Final Fantasy IX or the characters featured in it. If I did, do you think I'd be wasting my time writing this? I'd be busy bringing the Burmecians back in a future FF release and designing wonderful fantasy worlds and stuff. As it stands I can only come up with Frato, who is mine.

Author's Rants: I'm sorry I took so long to update, I've been away for most of the summer. Well, from the looks of it I'd think all you guys are on holiday too! How come I only got one review? All constructive comments are welcome, don't be shy.

Dazz Combo: Glad you're enjoying it. Yes I think they are Type A mages, although I don't think it would make much difference if they were Type B or C. I might consider reading your story seeing as there is nothing else worth reading on at the moment.


	3. The Alexandrians

Lion-heart and Frato swiftly made their way to the east side of the city, where they were to try and rescue any citizens stranded there. As they were bounding across the central houses, Lion-heart spoke up to Frato.

"Frato! I will search for the citizens in the street down there!" Lion-heart stated firmly, nodding towards one of the more populated streets with plenty of houses and places to hide away from the mages. "You must go around the parameters of the eastern street and make sure I am not ambushed by any of those blasted mages! Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Frato replied affirmatively. "If there is only mage heading your way I'll dispose of it myself. However, what if I was suddenly ambushed by the mages and needed help to escape, or if you got discovered evacuating the citizens?"

"Fire a Dragon Knight spell into the air." Lion-heart answered. "It will be easy to see and show each other clearly our exact location."

"Fair enough." Frato replied shortly before the two split up to perform their tasks. The two didn't travel very far apart from each other; instead Lion-heart jumped down into the street to search for Burmecians whilst Frato remained perched on the rooftops surrounding him.

Lion-heart had some difficulty finding the Burmecian women and children. They were hidden very deep in their homes and it was to tell whether the house was empty or not. He chanted that he was Sir Lion-heart and that he had come to ensure their safe escape from the city. Not everybody responded to his call, although many approached him cautiously from their hiding places, after they discovered he was not someone luring them into a trap they gathered behind him. After a reasonable amount of time Lion-heart had rounded up a reasonable number of citizens.

* * *

Frato leapt around the rooftops of the eastern avenue and scanned the distance for any sign of mages or other enemies. It wasn't long before he detected a spot of trouble, and he jumped towards it to see what it was. As he bounded closer to the sound of chants, fire and destruction he realised that two black mages had strayed from their pack to search for survivors. Frato decided he could probably take them on without much hassle, especially if he caught them off guard.

The two black mages marched onwards, with no particular destination. Mindlessly chanting their one word song of "KILL!" they threw fireballs in random directions. After the second fireball was hurled at a nearby building, something hurtled through the air and skewered the mage marching on the right. The other mage turned, with no expression of surprise or shock to look at his slain comrade and found his ally had been taken out in one blow by a lance. The mage looked upwards to see what had caused his friend's demise and saw Frato, building up energy in his hands to destroy him with a type of Dragon magic.

The black mage tried to counter Frato's ambush with a fire spell of its own, but it didn't have enough time to prepare the spell. Frato thrust his palms out at the mage, shouting "Cherry Blossom!" before an intense stream of red petals shot out of his hands and towards the mage. The petals erupted in an extreme red flame as they touched his opponent and when the magic had subsided all that remained of the black mage was a small pile of ashes.

Frato gave a small smile at his victory, but he was a little concerned about the mages making their way here. Had they followed him? Were they now attacking the east part of the city having decimated the Royal Palace? Frato looked into the distance and saw humanoid figures making their way towards him. There were more than two of them, at least a dozen of them, marching towards him. Eager to get out of the way of the small squadron, Frato leapt onto the rooftop on the other side of the cobblestone road he was on and crouched to hide himself from view, yet still see what the figures were.

As they came closer, it became apparent to Frato what they were. They were soldiers, but they weren't Burmecian. They were human, and they wore a completely different uniform. Their chests were shielded by metal plates, and they wore a helmet made of the same compound. To Frato's disgust, they wore very little to cover up their legs, only a thin green thong. Another thing which disturbed him was that they were all female. There was not one man in their ranks. Frato figured it must be a large group of prostitutes that had come to rape the Burmecian corpses.

Frato shuddered as the disgusting thought bore through him. Yet these "soldiers" were holding weapons, and their expressions had determined faces. They were here strictly for business, no fun and games. Pressing his mind further, Frato found a description which told him who they were. This was a small group of Alexandrian soldiers, although this certainly wasn't the entire army. These women were here to finish off what precious little the black mages had left.

They didn't manage to detect Frato on the rooftops, and even didn't pay any attention to him when he started building up another Dragon Knight ability. Frato figured if he didn't kill most of the off with this, he would go and warn his father. Frato managed to build up the energy without being spotted, and pointed his lance down onto the street below.

"Dragon's Crest!" Frato chanted, which caused a few Alexandrians to look up at him in alarm. They were too late, a large green Dragon emblem had begun glowing brightly in the street, shortly before a big dragon spirit came bursting through the badge and started eating, gouging and ripping anyone in sight. Eight or nine of the soldiers were killed instantly by the dragon, and another was seriously injured. The others dodged the attacks of the dragon successfully and remained standing when the dragon finally disappeared.

This left Frato standing on a rooftop staring at two able and angry Alexandrian soldiers. They couldn't reach Frato on the rooftops, so it was up to Frato to make the first move. He wanted to try another Dragon knight ability, but he had used enough of that and he would give himself a major headache if he overused them. This time, he would have to rely on physical strength alone.

Frato feinted throwing his lance down at one knight, and as she dodged the nonexistent attack, Frato flung his lance to where she was planning to move to. His attack worked, he managed to impale the Alexandrian soldier right through chest, making the battle one-on-one and giving Frato a keen start. He leapt down from the rooftop to receive his weapon, but already the other knight was charging towards him. Frato pulled his lance out quick enough to block an oncoming blow.

The Alexandrian backed off, leaving the two staring each other down. She was trying to intimidate Frato, make him think she'd get revenge for taking out most of her small squadron. It didn't work, Frato wouldn't back down now. He would finish this, and Frato spent his time more wisely, thinking of finding a weak spot he could use.

The idea came to Frato quickly, and he lunged at the Alexandrian soldier's biggest weakness. He swung his lance fiercely at his opponent's legs, and he managed to hit a swift slash. The Alexandrian screamed and fell to the floor, staring in horror at her two stumps, which were once legs. They had been sliced off and were laying several feet to her right. Blood was gushing profusely onto the concrete road, and Frato gave an evil smirk of satisfaction.

"Silly Alexandrians." Frato scoffed. "You're so vain and arrogant you think you can win with a suit of armour that doesn't protect your two most important limbs. Had you wore leg armour I might have had a half-decent fight."

"My defeat means nothing..." The Alexandrian gasped. "Burmecia is in ruins, Alexandria has already won. The end is near for you evil rats..."

Frato's faced turned to one of anger. "You'll be lucky I don't kill you now with a mouth like that!" But then Frato gave another evil grin, a second idea entering his mind. "Although I think you'd prefer to bleed to death in the city you destroyed. Die slowly in the knowledge you were beaten by a Burmecian. We will survive this war, we will rebuild our city and your presence here will have no lasting effects!"

"Queen Brahne will destroy you all..." The Alexandrian gasped, even weaker than before. "Burmecia will die so Alexandria can..."

The soldier never finished her sentence, as Frato rammed his spear into her head, causing more blood to flow onto the stone road. Frato had heard enough profanities against his home, he would not tolerate it.

* * *

Lion-heart was herding the group of citizens towards the Western gate so they could move to Cleyra, so they would be safe. Frato had not returned with any warning of black mages so he was feeling this would pull off. That was until three black mages came marching towards them from the west. Lion-heart quickly turned the herd of Burmecians towards the east to travel to the eastern gate, but black mages were marching from there too. He desperately tried leading them south, but to no avail, more mages were closing in from there.

They were surrounded. Lion-heart couldn't hope to fight all those mages by himself and protect everyone he gathered. All of the Burmecian citizens trembled and yelped in fear. Maybe this was a trap after all. After they were out of hiding, the black mages would close in on them and kill them all. Many were begging Lion-heart to force a way through for them.

Lion-heart had other plans; he had already begun charging a small amount of spiritual energy in his lance. He finished charging the small amount of energy, and pointed it to the sky. He chanted "Dragon's Crest!" and the energy discharged to form a green and white emblem in the rainy sky. The roar of a dragon was heard as a white, fire-like dragon burst through the emblem and down towards the mages in a death-dive.

* * *

Frato had barely taken a few steps from the fallen soldier before he heard the sound of a dragon's roar in the distance; he turned and looked at a green and white dragon emblem forged in the sky. This meant that his father was in trouble, and Frato had to go to aid his father in the escape of the innocent Burmecians. He was just about to leap onto the nearest rooftop when a voice called out to him and pierced him like ice. He remained frozen to the spot as the voice leered at him.

"You are not going anywhere." A stern, female voice told him.

Frato turned to look at the Alexandrian and was surprised to see she was wearing a better uniform than the other soldiers. White boots and brown leather trousers covered her legs and lower body whilst a white blouse complete with a similar colour cape that went down to her feet. One of her eyes was covered with an eye-patch whilst the other stared at him in a fearless and intimidating glare. She flicked a lock of her long, brown hair out of her eyes and pointed her decorated sword at her foe.

"You will pay for slaying my troop of soldiers and your fate is sealed. Don't even try to escape." The woman said fiercely yet concealing her anger and making herself look cold and emotionless.

Frato gave an interested smile. "You must be General Beatrix, am I right?" Beatrix made no response, but Frato could tell his guess was accurate. "I bet you got scared when my brother defeated you, so you've come here to get some payback. Well, you're in for a surprise. I'm stronger than my brother is now; I've trained for this day. I will defeat you and restore peace in Burmecia!" Frato then took his personal battle stance.

"Ignorant fool." Beatrix seethed, before taking a battle stance.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story except for Sir Frato. Does that shock you in the slightest? I didn't think so.

Author's Rants: Nice to see Breeze has returned, but where are the rest of you? I know more people are just reading rather than reading and reviewing. I need some constructive comments people! Don't be lazy! Also, since it has been a long time since I updated, I have a special treat. Not only have I posted this, but another story of mine is up on which kicks off the final part in my fanfiction trilogy, which is by far the most interesting. See what you think of it!

Breeze of Summoners: I apologise that the battles seem like they are from a textbook, but it's harder than I thought to write about this. Hopefully this chapter should be more thrilling for you, and the next chapter promises an exciting fight scene! I also think I could really use a beta-reader. Do you know where I could get one? I'm also glad you're working on your Burmecian stories again. Update them soon!

Dazz Combo: I'm glad you're still interested. Keep reading, and I also reviewed your big brother story. Be sure to look at my new story!


	4. Beatrix

There was a tense stare down taking place in the cobblestone street, which was now a battleground, where many soldiers had been slain and left to rot. A heavy rain was pelting down on the two warriors who were staring at each others faces, trying to intimidate each other, trying to encourage the first attack. Frato eyes were filled with a bloodthirsty rage; he wanted to disembowel his opponent for murdering his people, innocent lives and families who had done nothing to deserve this war. Beatrix stared back with her single eye, glinting with a threat but her face showed no trace of anger or emotion as she was concealing them from her opponent. She would not show him any weakness; she would not show him any mercy. He had slain her soldiers for doing their duty. He was a threat to Alexandria, a threat to her people, her Queen. She would serve them well by eliminating this deadly threat.

Frato could not contain his anger any longer; he tore towards Beatrix with his lance prepared to slash. He swung his all his might only to be blocked with ease. Beatrix parried the blow to the side and countered by elbowing Frato in the chest. Frato gasped and was knocked back slightly, but he was unfazed. Beatrix then swung her sword in a vertical slash but Frato just managed to block the strike in time. Beatrix kept her sword pressed against Frato's spear and put more pressure into the deadlock, hoping to get Frato down to his knees or disarm him. Frato saw this coming and he knew he could not overpower her like this so he gave Beatrix a hard kick to the ribs. Beatrix doubled up slightly and lifted her sword off Frato and drew it down over her ribs protectively for a brief second. Frato took a few steps back and the two stared at each other once again, calculating their next move.

"She's much stronger than I thought..." Frato realised.

Beatrix didn't give Frato any time to follow up on his lucky blow; she charged towards him again and tried slashing him in a diagonal swipe. Frato tried to move backwards to evade the strike, but he was too slow, the slash connected as he moved back and cut through his mythril shirt, leaving a small, thin red line down his chest. Frato yelped in pain but was thankful that the blade had caught him thin. That could have easily been his demise had Beatrix managed to cut him any deeper. Beatrix to slash him again from the other side but Frato blocked the strike early with his spear instinctively. Beatrix pressed him further, not giving him any time to do anything about his small wound. Frato was being pressed back and there wasn't much he could do in response other than block her strikes.

After forcing Frato back a considerable distance, Beatrix decided to relent on her parry of blows, finding that she would need a different method of attack to break through Frato's defence. Frato leapt back as soon as Beatrix stopped her brutal assault and gave a quick glance at his wound. Frato wasn't too concerned about it; he could still fight at his best, although he figured he would likely take a couple of cuts and slashes like that in his battle. He then started to charge a green and white energy into his lance. Frato looked up quickly at Beatrix, checking to see if had decided to try and attack him again. He was rather unsettled to see her charging up an inky black type of magic in her hands, he knew it would be aimed at him.

Suddenly, Beatrix discharged the black energy and it shot straight at Frato's head. Frato didn't have time to react and the magic hit him dead on. Oddly, Frato could feel no pain from the spell, but he was shocked to see the blackness of the magic swirling in front of him, completely obscuring his view of the battle. The white magic of Blind had taken full effect. Frato hastily finished his dragon magic and chanted "Rei's Wind!" before a comforting green and white stream of light filled every inch of his body. He could feel the magic slowly closing the cut on his chest and relieving the pain of his injury.

However, Frato still had a lot to worry about. He knew that dodging his opponent's strikes would be close to impossible to avoid with his lack of vision. He had to try and detect her and stay away from her long enough to prepare a second Dragon Knight ability. He tried to calculate Beatrix's position by using his ears, but the sound of the rain hitting the cobblestone made this difficult. His ears weren't as sensitive as a normal Burmecian's.

Thankfully, Frato could hear the sound of Beatrix's boots clunking off the cobblestone as she tore towards him to try and finish off this battle. She was attacking him head on, Frato wasted no time in sidestepping away to dodge Beatrix's attack. Frato had to jump back again to avoid another strike.

"Ugh! I can't win like this!" Frato thought to himself. "I've got to get a good distance between us or stall her so I can build another Dragon magic spell! But how can I get away from her?"

Beatrix tried once again to try and slash Frato, but he leapt backwards to put some distance between them. It was as he did this that an idea formed in his mind.

"Of course!" Frato thought. "She can't jump as well as a Burmecian can! She probably won't be able to attack me if I'm on a rooftop!" Now Frato thought really hard to try and work out roughly where he was in the street and where the nearest rooftop would be.

Beatrix charged once again, she knew Frato couldn't dodge her blows forever, he would fall victim to her attacks eventually. Before she got in striking range Frato leapt as high as he could towards the buildings to their left. Frato prayed he would land on the rooftop of the building as he flew blindly through the air. He felt the slated rooftop on the fronts of his feet and felt relieved, before he tops of his feet slipped off and scraped against the side of the building as he fell. Frato managed to grab the ledge of the rooftop and began trying to haul himself onto the rooftop, panicking about how fatal that slight error could have been. Beatrix was closing in on him and he knew she would try and stop him from clambering onto the rooftop to escape her.

Just as Frato was pulling himself along the roof, he felt a gloved hand grab his right leg. A jolt of fear rushed through Frato as he felt himself being dragged away from the rooftop. He tried to pull away from Beatrix but she kept pulling back, Frato edging slowly along the ledge. Frato then tried swinging his lance wildly behind him around his leg. He managed to smack his lance into Beatrix's arm but she held on, determined not to let him go. His lance smashed into her arm a second time and she lost her grip.

Frato scrambled onto the rooftops and breathed a short sigh of relief. He had managed to buy himself sometime and a little safe haven. Although Frato had become aware that Beatrix could cast magic, so he was not completely safe. He was reminded of this fact by the darkness that was still floating around his eyes, blocking his vision.

Getting up onto his feet, Frato decided to dig deep and try another attack; if this failed he would run. He was clearly outmatched and he still had to go back and help his father. White energy started to gather at the tip of Frato's spear as he built up his desperado move, a powerful technique known by Dragon Knights. He could hear Beatrix building up a magical attack of her own from down below.

Hastily, Frato managed to finish charging up his attack. He pointed his lance at the street in front of him and chanted "Dragon's Breath!" The hot white energy at the tip of Frato's spear formed a Dragon's head, which opened its jaws wide and fired blue energy blasts at the street randomly. Frato hoped that Beatrix would be hit by the attack, and that it wound her enough so he could finish her off easily. The energy blasts caused several small explosions on the street, but Frato could not hear Beatrix shrieking in pain.

Beatrix was leaping away from the paths of the energy blasts whilst she continued to charge up her magic spell. She somehow managed to dodge all of the blasts, but this made easier by Frato's ailment as he had pointed to the area of street on her left rather than directly at her. When the attack subsided, her attack was ready.

The next thing Frato could hear was the discharge of a vast amount of energy, he moved to dodge but his entire left side was hit by a tremendous wave of light energy. The magic of Holy knocked Frato flying, Frato fell blindly through several feet of air before landing with a painful thud onto the cobblestone street face first.

It was then when the effect another one of Frato's attacks started to take place. A green wind rushed over Frato as the magic of Rei's Wind began to ease the pain of Beatrix's attack and the impact of the cold, wet stone. Frato then found the energy to rise slowly to his feet. He pointed his lance out and took a defensive stance.

Frato was surprised that Beatrix didn't attack him immediately, there was a distinct pause. Frato pondered about trying another Dragon Knight attack, but he thought it would be a waste of energy as Beatrix would probably dodge it again. That, plus he'd be open to attack.

The sound of Beatrix's footsteps hitting the stone in a charge reached Frato's ears and he tensed up, hoping to block whatever attack she would unleash. Frato listened for her blade and thrust his lance towards it to parry it. His lance smashed into Beatrix's blade, and as he did this Frato screamed as a surge of thunder tore through his body in a bright flash.

Beatrix brought her blade back and Frato toppled to the floor. She turned to leave him; clearly Frato was in no state to continue fighting. She would leave him to die on the street. As she walked on, a voice called into her ear.

"Wait...we're not through yet..." Frato called weakly. Beatrix turned around, astonished to see he was still conscious. Frato somehow managed to get back onto his feet; it was almost as if he was possessed. "I can't let you get away with this..." Frato seethed. "You and your mages have slaughtered hundreds of innocent people! I will kill you and put an end to this mad destruction!"

"Enough with this ludicrous fantasy!" Beatrix shouted back and took her battle stance, glaring at him again.

"I will deliver justice... I will stop you..." Frato growled, as thunder rumbled in the clouds above. "I will protect Burmecia!" Frato screamed the last sentence, and as he did his body erupted in a mysterious white light.

Beatrix had to put her hand over her eye to prevent being fazed by the bright light. The light subsided after a few seconds, and Beatrix was stunned at what she saw. She could scarcely believe it.

Frato had changed. His fur had grown longer, as had his tail. His ears were ever so slightly larger and his blue eyes glinted with anger. He was engulfed in a blue and white aura which filled him with a strange power.

Frato had found the power of the legendary trance.

* * *

Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy 9 and its respective characters and locations, I wouldn't be writing this right now. I'd be making Final Fantasy IX-2, and make it really good. All I own in this story is Frato.

Author's Rants: Just why is no-one reviewing this story? All constructive comments are welcome. Please drop a review if you are reading this.

Dazz Combo: I hope you enjoyed the Frato-Beatrix battle. That was a pretty interesting chapter to write. I'm glad you liked the previous chapter.


	5. Power of Emotion

Thunder was rumbling in the sky, lightning made hot white streaks through the clouds, casting light onto the two warriors. Rain pelted down onto them relentlessly, washing out the small puddles of blood which stained Burmecia's stone streets. General Beatrix was one of those standing tall amongst the wreckage, her eye glinting with determination to do what would be best for her country. She was staring fiercely at her opponent, who had surprised her by practically coming back from the dead.

Opposite her stood Sir Frato, bathed in a blue aura, a bright light compared to the blues and greys of the city which lay in ruins. His eyes burned with an intense rage, a will to bring some justice in his homes and slay the one who had taken so many innocent lives. He would put an end to the murder, an end to the destruction, an end to the madness.

The two were staring at each other once again, daring the other to make the first attack. This time, Beatrix decided to take the initiative as she lunged at Frato with her sword held back ready to swing. She attempted to slash Frato in a horizontal motion, but Frato blocked the attack easily. Beatrix brought her sword back to try a different attack, and Frato attempted to counter by thrusting his lance forwards. Beatrix was just quick enough to manage to block this counter and she tried to hit Frato at his other side. Frato blocked again and the two began exchanging blows, each successfully blocking each others attacks.

Eventually, Beatrix tried a vertical cut which Frato blocked, but she didn't bring her blade back immediately. Instead Beatrix pushed down, starting a deadlock between the two warriors. Beatrix expecting things to go similarly to the last time she tried this, and force Frato down to the ground. She was shocked to find that Frato was actually managing to force her back ever so slowly, that he was actually overpowering her this time round. Frato then decided that the deadlock was just a waste of his strength and resorted to his previous tactic and kicked Beatrix in the ribs a second time. Beatrix felt the pain of the kick and hunched over in reaction to the attack.

Frato followed up on this opening and swung his lance down at Beatrix's spine. The attack connected and Beatrix gave a short yelp before falling down face-first to the floor. Moving in for the kill, Frato lifted his lance ready to impale Beatrix and thrust his lance down towards the ground. Beatrix was too quick though as she rolled out of the way of the lethal blow and got hastily back onto her feet.

The two didn't even give each other time to breathe. They lashed out at each other once again, trading blows and blocking each others strikes. Frato took another swing at Beatrix, who jumped back in time to dodge the blow. Beatrix then decided that their physical confrontation was too even and backed off to set a distance between them.

Frato noted Beatrix's position and figured she would try to use her magic again and he began charging up energy for an attack of his own. Red energy gathered around the tip of his spear at a slightly faster rate than it usually did. Evidently the power of trance was affected his dragon knight techniques as well. Beatrix saw Frato charging up his spell and began charging up some blue energy in her sword. Frato finished powering up his attack and pointed his lance at Beatrix before chanting "Cherry Blossom!" Red petals flooded out of his lance and flew towards Beatrix before setting alight, creating a powerful beam of fire.

The attack eventually subsided, and Frato was disappointed to see Beatrix still standing. In fact, the attack barely touched her, as Beatrix had managed to cast her spell in time. A transparent, blue sphere had covered Beatrix and protected her from the blast. The blue shell faded, although the magic was still affecting her as she was covered with an eerie blue glow.

Beatrix then decided to take the offensive and began preparing another one of her abilities. Her sword began to give a bright yellow glow and give off small blue sparks. Frato took a defensive stance as she charged towards him and brought down her mighty blade, unleashing her special attack. Frato sidestepped just in time to avoid being struck by an intense beam of lightning that Beatrix's attack had generated. Beatrix gave a little curse before lifting her sword up again and taking a defensive stance.

There was brief second where the two looked at each other's eyes, remaining in their defensive stances, trying to intimidate each other. This short stare-down was broken by Frato who lunged at Beatrix and unleashed a series of swings and strikes. Beatrix blocked them all and managed to try and counter with a couple of her attacks, but not to any avail. The two continued exchanging blows until Beatrix jumped back once again to evade one of Frato's attacks.

Not wanting to give Beatrix another chance to cast one of her spells, Frato charged after her and swung at her once again. Frato thought that if he kept this strictly to a physical confrontation, it would be possible for him to win. Another set of blocked slashes and strikes ensued; until Beatrix managed to deflect one of Frato's attempted slashes and successfully countered with a slash of her own. Frato grunted in pain as he was cut across his chest a second time, this time a slightly deeper cut appearing on his chest. He was knocked backwards onto his rump from the attack. Frato sprang back to his feet and backed off in order to try and properly check his wound and heal himself if necessary.

Frato had made a vital mistake. He had inadvertently given Beatrix the time she needed to prepare one of her powerful knight abilities. As Frato began charging up green and white energy in his spear to replace the now faded effects of Rei's Wind on himself; Beatrix began charging up a bright blue energy at the centre of her sword, near the handle of her weapon. Frato glanced at Beatrix in time to see a bright blue and white flash come towards him.

Pain filled the whole of Frato's upper body and he fell back onto the stone street. The blue aura of trance in his body flashed and faded away, leaving the motionless form of Frato lying on the ground. Beatrix gave a small smile of satisfaction before turning to leave.

* * *

A great white dragon burst through the magical emblem and flew straight towards the nearest group of mages. The mages were torn apart by the vicious dragon before it faded into a puff of smoke. Lion-heart was thankful that his attack had created a way out for the citizens. Many of them were already taking the opportunity and running down past the two dead mages to get away from the other two groups of mages coming towards them.

Lion-heart leapt up onto the rooftop behind him, he refused to leave whilst there will still citizens in danger. Many were still trying to make their way to the open road leading west as they had unfortunately been nearer to the street leading to the east of the city. Besides, Frato would be here soon, and two Dragon Knights would prove a far better match for these mages than one.

The black mages were closing in. Lion-heart began preparing another Dragon Knight attack to see if he could take out another group of the mages. Fireballs were thrown directly at the frantic group of citizens, desperate to get away from these demons. Screams and cries could be heard through the street as several unlucky Burmecians were hit by the magical blasts.

After an agonising minute passed, Lion-heart had charged as spell as wasted no time in blasting the mages with a round of "Dragon's Breath". The magical white Dragon head fired blue blasts at the groups of mages, causing many of them to topple over. Yet this wasn't enough, a few of the mages hadn't been hit with the attack and continued to march towards him, chanting "KILL!" as they prepared deadly fire spells in their hands.

More screams, more cries, more deaths. Lion-heart cursed as he began to prepare a third Dragon Knight attack. "Where are you Frato?" Lion-heart asked as energy gathered at the tip of his lance. He was almost ready to unleash his attack when one of the black mage's spells was fired straight at him. Lion-heart saw the spell coming and hopped away to dodge it. He successfully evaded the attack, but somehow managed to misjudge his landing position as his feet dangled dangerously over the edge of the back of the rooftop. He couldn't keep his balance and fell backwards. His attempt to try and grab the roof and climb back up failed as he got not keep his grip on the slippery rooftop, especially with one hand.

He fell down through the air and landed with a painful thump onto the stone floor. Lion-heart was still conscious, but discovered an agonising pain in his left thigh when he tried to stand up. He thought he had broken a bone. He managed to get himself upright and leaned on his spear for balance, but as he tried to move forwards his left leg buckled and he collapsed.

Lion-heart prayed that Frato would come to help him soon...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9, okay? The only thing I own in this story is Sir Frato and the name of Lion-heart, nothing else.

Author's Notes: I'm beginning to wonder why this story is much less popular than The Sentinel. Maybe because there isn't as much to argue about, or people are too lazy to review this story. All constructive comments are welcome, so please let me know what you think.

Dazz Combo: I'm glad you enjoyed the battle; I just hope you enjoyed the conclusion! I might take another look at your story when I get time and catch up on all the other stories I need to finish reading. Also, are you going to update your Big Brother story?


	6. Loss

He could feel the rain pelting his motionless body, he could feel the pain searing through his upper-body. His eyes slowly flickered open and looked at the clouds above him, throwing more rain down with no chance of stopping. He had failed. He had been unable to defeat Beatrix, and unable to protect his home from being invaded by those powerful golems. Yet he was still alive, and Frato did not want to throw away his chance of survival.

Frato tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest was still intense enough to keep him grounded. There was no visible damage; there was no blood or bruise, just the sheer pain of Beatrix's attack. This worried Frato, he had not heard or known of an attack of this kind, and he was unsure about how he should treat it, or whether he even could treat it.

White energy began charging up in Frato's hands as he prepared a Dragon Knight ability to try and ease his pain. A green and white wind rushed over Frato as he unleashed the power of Rei's Wind onto himself to try and fix the damage done by Beatrix's assault. He could the ability taking effect as the pain inside his chest and his shoulders ease away slowly.

After a short while, Frato found he was able to get back onto his feet. He took a look around. He was still in the same street, but Beatrix had clearly gone. How long had he been out? Just what was that attack that had taken him down? What was that strange light that gave him so much power?

Frato's mind was filled with questions, and he didn't know how to begin finding the answers. As his mind was cast back to the battle with Beatrix, a thought struck him.

"Father!" Frato realised and began leaping across the rooftops to where Lion-heart had been rescuing the civilians.

When he reached his destination, Frato could see various dead Burmecians and mages, yet he could not see his father. Lion-heart was strong, and Frato seriously doubted his father would be taken down by a group of lowly mages. Yet he had asked for Frato's help, and Frato had to be certain. He leapt across to the next rooftop and took another look around.

From this rooftop, something did catch his eye. A flash of realisation filled Frato's face and his eyes widened. He leapt down from the rooftops onto the street. On the cobblestone street laid a Burmecian, who had a swollen leg and that a small pool of blood around his neck. Frato stared in disbelief at the dead body of Sir Lion-heart Fratley.

"No..." Frato stuttered as he looked aghast at his father's body. "Father..."

He couldn't believe it. The black mages had gotten him. They had slain the man who had taken Frato into his home and brought him up. The man who had taught Frato how to fight. He had died whilst clinging on the hope that Frato would arrive and help him fend off their attackers and take him to safety.

Frato's ears fell flat and a few glistening tears fell from the half-breed's face onto the dead body of his adoptive father. "I'm sorry father..." Frato managed to say between silent sobs as he placed his hand onto the cold shoulder of Lion-heart.

After a few minutes, Frato managed to compose himself and stood up. He thought hard about what to do next. He noted that it was getting dark and decided to check if his home was still in a good enough condition to sleep in.

When Frato reached his house he found it had been completely wrecked. Like many of the nearby buildings the door had been blasted off and various walls had collapsed. Frato knew it would not be safe to spend the night in his house and he would have to find shelter elsewhere.

Frato pondered about what to do next. There wasn't any sign of any surviving citizens or black mages. They all seemed to have abandoned the rainy city. All the Burmecians had fled to either Cleyra or Lindblum. Frato began to think about doing the same thing. However, there was the problem that it would take much more than one evening to reach either destination, and Frato would be easy prey for monsters if he tried to sleep on the plains.

Frato had no idea of what to do. He decided to wander further into the city to seek out shelter in another building, but something caught his attention. His ears picked up the faint roar of an Ironite near the outskirts of the city. This disturbed Frato as it meant that the gate had not been shut since the mages blasted it open, and now monsters were making their way into the city.

Now sleeping in the city did not seem like such a good idea. Yet the roar of the dragon sparked up another idea in Frato's mind. Frato had an idea of where he could possibly sleep.

Frato rummaged through his house and got together anything he thought that might be useful out in the plains outside Burmecia. He stuffed into a small bag that he had managed to find and immediately began making his way to the western gate of the city. He was not going to follow some of the Burmecian refugees to Cleyra; he was going out into the mountains on the west side of the city to meet an old friend.

During his practical exam at the Dragon Academy, Frato had to slay an Ironite in a cave in the western mountains to prove he was strong enough to become a Dragon Knight. After he had killed his Ironite, Frato ended up getting lost and going too far into the cave. He met a powerful Red Dragon whilst in the cave which he found he was able to communicate with in a way which he could not quite figure out. Frato managed to become friends with the dragon, which he decided to call "Redwind".

As he made his way out of Burmecia and towards the cave where he had proven himself, he hoped that Redwind would still remember him, and not think that he would make an ideal snack. Frato managed to make his way towards the entrance of the cave, and he lit a small candle from his bag and placed it inside a small glass case before proceeding into the cave.

Frato carefully made his way through the cave, advancing slowly and keeping alert for any signs of nearby monsters. Occasionally he called out the name "Redwind", but got no reply. He racked his brain to try and remember the way he had come before, and he tried his best to follow the route he had taken.

After slaying a few weak monsters and venturing deep into the cave, Frato finally began to hear signs of the red dragon's presence. He could hear a massive beast snoring somewhere in the distance. He shone the candle onto the source of the noise and saw Redwind snoring peacefully in front of him.

Frato tried to wake up the dragon by nudging him, but Redwind didn't even feel Frato's attempts at rousing him from his sleep. Frato then tried hitting the dragon with the blunt end of his lance, and still got no response. Finally, Frato decided to walk up to the dragon's ears and call into them.

"Redwind..." Frato called into the dragon's ears. "Redwind! Wake up, it's me!"

Redwind gave a grunt and lifted his head to look for the creature that was brave enough, or stupid enough to wake him from his slumber. The dragon's eyes focused onto Frato and the dragon gave a low growl.

"Hey there, sleepy-head." Frato greeted the grouchy dragon. "It's me, Frato."

"Oh...it's you." The dragon grunted. "You wake me for a reason?"

Frato could never quite figure out how he was able to communicate with the dragon. It was if they were speaking directly into each other's minds, rather than talking normally.

"Can I live in this cave with you?" Frato asked. "It's just that there has been a war in Burmecia, and my house got destroyed by these black mages. Monsters have started infiltrating the city and isn't safe to stay in the city."

"Okay." Redwind replied. "You'll be safe here; all the monsters in this cave are too scared to come near me, because they know I am the strongest thing in this cave."

"Thanks Redwind." Frato replied. "I really appreciate it."

Redwind merely grunted in response. "Can I go back to sleep now?" The dragon asked, looking rather grumpy and tired.

"Sure." Frato answered.

The dragon then proceeded to lie back down and drift slowly back to sleep. Frato decided to follow suit and pulled out a sheet from his small travel bag and placed it onto the stone floor before laying down on it. He put out the candle in his small torch and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

Disclaimer: Look, if I owned Final Fantasy 9 and its characters, Freya would have played a more important role in the game and Burmecians would not have brought down to near extinction. Since that isn't the case, you can assume I don't own the rights to the game, can't you?

Author's Notes: At long last, this story gets a well-needed update. I'm going to focus on this story for a while as well. All reviews are welcome.

Dazz Cambo: I'm glad you enjoyed the fight scene. Why are you asking about Frato? I'm writing about him now! Also, he will appear in a future chapter of the Sentinel as well, so don't fret.

Breeze of Summoners: I'm glad you liked the fight scene as well. I'm looking forward to reading some of your fight scenes in your story. I suppose you're right about Frato's attack being able to break Beatrix's spine. I might need to fix that, plus the whole comma thing. That's all I really need the beta-reader for really. I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	7. Brothers Reunite

Fratley had been spending his days working on the farms in Dali. Very little of his memory had returned to him, only his battle instinct and the fact that he was once a Dragon Knight had returned to his mind. He had met Puck about two and a half years ago and had discovered his true name. He hadn't seen much of Puck since he left the village to go to Alexandria. The mischievous Burmecian Prince only returned about a year later to hide him from Freya, who was searching for him.

Things had become very peculiar in the village of Dali. The male villagers kept disappearing during the day and nobody would tell Fratley where they had gone. He didn't pursue the matter and continued to earn his wages doing labour in the fields. A couple of weeks later, Puck returned to the village, desperate to talk to Fratley.

"Fratley! Fratley!" Puck shouted, whilst running up to the Burmecian. "Thank heavens you're still here! Listen Fratley, I've been hearing lots of weird rumours in Alexandria, and I've caught word that they are launching an attack on Burmecia! We've got to get there right away! My old man could be in danger!"

Fratley's eyes widened at this news, and Puck even roused the attention of some of the villagers. Locked deep inside Fratley's mind, something began to stir.

"_As a Dragon Knight, your main duty will be to ensure the protection of Burmecia and its citizens. You must be prepared to give your life for your country." _The words of an old tutor spoke through Fratley's mind, a long lost memory returning to him.

"You're right." Fratley answered the child. His voice sounded slightly more formal. "Let's go."

Fratley quickly gathered his belongings and bought some supplies with the money he had saved from his wages. The two then wasted no time in leaving the village and travelling through the Ice Cavern. Fratley used the skills he had reacquired whilst training in Dali to slay the monsters they encountered in the cavern with ease. They managed to pass through the Ice Cavern just as the sun was setting. They camped outside the cavern and took turns keeping watch for monsters overnight.

In only a couple of short days they managed to reach North Gate. However, when they reached the gate they were presented with a very grim sight. The smell of fire, blood and dead corpses filled the air, the gate was strewn with dead Burmecian soldiers and the gate had been forced open.

"This looks bad..." Puck commented, a glum look filling his face.

"Come on, we're not that far away from Burmecia. We must press on." Fratley stated, shaking the solemn look off his face.

"You're right." Puck answered. "Let's go!"

With that, the two passed through the gate and continued their journey to Burmecia.

* * *

Frato spent the next few days hunting monsters and training in the mountains with Redwind. Occasionally he would travel back down into Burmecia to look for supplies and things he could use, whilst at the same time clearing the streets up a little bit and fighting off the monsters that had infested the city with his dragon companion.

It was on one of those visits where something interesting happened to Frato. He had come into the city alone to take the dead body of his father and bury it in the Burmecian cemetery. However, whilst he was on the way to pick up the body, his ears picked up the faint sounds of footsteps and some voices. He decided to jump across to the source of the sound and investigate. As he drew closer, he could make out some words.

"Geez, this is terrible...It looks like we were too late."

"Indeed...So, this is my home."

"It sure is, and it has certainly seen better days..."

Frato could identify one of the voices straight away, and began bounding over the rooftops at a much faster pace with an excited smile forming on his face. As he leapt onto the next rooftop, he could see the sources of the voices. One of them was a small child, with an orange cap over his head and clad in a green shirt and orange overalls. The second was a man with a brown leather hat and long, blonde hair, with a yellow-brown jacket and matching coloured pants and a black vest. This man was the unmistakeable figure of Sir Iron-Tail Fratley, Frato's adoptive brother.

"Fratley!" Frato shouted from the rooftops. Both Puck and Fratley turned to look at him, and Puck then began to shake his head. Frato leapt down from the rooftops and ran up to Fratley and threw his arms around him in a tight hug. "Oh Fratley, I missed you so much." Frato then broke up the embrace. "So where have you been to all during all this time?"

Fratley had a confused look on his face, and he tried desperately to recognise this new stranger who obviously knew him very well. "Have we met?" Fratley asked.

This question seemed to make Frato dumbstruck for a second, but then he replied by giving a light-hearted laugh and giving Fratley a light punch on the shoulder. "Ha, ha! Good one Fratley!"

"He's not joking." Puck butted into the conversation with a serious tone. "He had an accident on his travels away from Burmecia. He's lost his memory. He can't remember anything about himself or his past."

There was a brief, but tense silence as the information sunk into Frato. His smile faded and a look of disbelief filled his face. "You really don't remember me?" Frato said sadly to break the harsh silence. "You don't remember your little brother? Do you know my name?"

The look of confusion did not leave Fratley's face, and he racked his brains to try and recall the face of the man who claimed to be his brother. He could find nothing, and he tried feebly to try and guess Frato's name. "...Are you Frederick?"

Frato disheartened look turned to one of shock and he responded by walking up to Fratley and grabbing him by the collar. "My name is Frato!" Frato screamed, shaking Fratley with considerable force. "I'm your younger brother Frato!" Frato then let go of Fratley and hung his head. His ears fell and Frato fought back the tears that were beginning to well up. He did not want to cry in the presence of Fratley and Puck. Real men didn't cry, although with everything that had happened Frato was starting to pass-care about those stupid little sayings.

"I'm sorry..." Fratley stuttered, a little shocked by Frato's fiery reaction.

"How could you have forgotten me, Fratley?" Frato asked with a tone of melancholy in his voice. He looked up, his eyes watery, but not giving any tears. "Do you remember our father Fratley?"

Fratley shook his head rather grimly. "I'm afraid not."

"Sir Lion-heart Fratley, our father, a fierce and honourable warrior..." Frato stated, before looking back down to the stone floor beneath him. "He's dead Fratley. Our father was killed by those mages."

"Sir Lion-heart Fratley?" Puck spat out in disbelief. "No way!"

"It's true." Frato went on. He looked back up at Fratley. "I was on my way to take his body and bury him in the cemetery when I heard you two. Do you wish to accompany me Fratley?"

Fratley gave a brief nod. Although Sir Lion-heart Fratley was a stranger to him right now, he thought he would regret it later if he didn't say one last farewell to his father. Besides, seeing the body might help him remember something about him.

"Come on then. His body is this way." Frato said whilst motioning to the eastern part of the city. He led the two through the streets past the many dead bodies of Burmecian soldiers and civilians and even a few black mages towards the body of his father.

Fratley looked solemnly at the corpse, feeling awkward in that he could remember anything about his dead father. He tried his best to call back some fond memory of the man lying in front of him, but there were no memories that came into his mind.

Frato lifted up the body and began walking towards the palace. The cemetery was next to the cathedral which was very close to the royal palace of Burmecia. When the three Burmecians reached the cathedral they found that it had been ransacked and burned like everywhere else, although the structure of it still remained. The cemetery was around the back, where there was a small, building which lead into an underground chamber that contained coffins and urns of the remains of loved ones. There was also a fairly vast graveyard, where there was a freshly dug grave.

The fresh grave was one that Frato had spent the time to dig out, and he took Lion-heart's lifeless body towards the grave and gently placed him into it. Fratley then aided Frato in shovelling the dirt in order to fill the grave.

"Rest in peace, father." Frato said solemnly as he ears fell flat against his head. There was brief moment of silence between the three Burmecians as a little mark of respect for the man resting in the grave.

As the three left the cemetery, Puck immediately sparked up a conversation.

"Frato, where did everyone else go?"

"Most of the Burmecians fled with His Majesty to Cleyra." Frato answered. "Another small group went through Gizamaluke's Grotto to go to Lindblum though."

"Why did you stay behind?" Fratley asked.

"I stayed with father to help ensure the rest of the civilians escaped." Frato replied. "I was knocked unconscious during a battle and when I woke up, I found that father had died and I was all alone. The plains outside Burmecia are deadly when faced alone, I would be easy prey for monsters when I stopped to rest."

"Well, Fratley and I are going to go to Cleyra." Puck stated. "Why don't you come with us? I'm sure you'll be safer with us than you will be here on your own."

"I'm staying put." Frato said firmly.

"Frato, you can't stay here on your own!" Puck shouted. "There are monsters crawling all over the place! This place is just as dangerous as the plains now!"

"I'll be fine, trust me. I've found a safe resting spot." Frato answered, trying to reassure his brother and the young Burmecian Prince. "Lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice. Besides, I want to clear up our home and make it worth living in again."

"You're a thick-headed moron, you know that?" Puck spat. "Well, we're heading to Cleyra, with or without you. Come on Fratley!"

Puck marched off towards the gate of the city, whilst Frato just made a grunt before turning towards his brother.

"I suppose this is goodbye again." Frato said with a little sigh. "I don't know how you can put up with that annoying little brat..."

"Are you sure you won't come with us Frato?" Fratley asked, hoping for his brother to change his mind.

"I'm certain." Frato replied.

Fratley gave a firm nod, before turning to follow Puck. He looked back at Frato and said "Farewell." He started walking to follow Puck but a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Will you promise me that you will come back to me?" Frato asked, his eyes looking hopefully at his brother.

"...I promise." Fratley answered.

Frato gave a little smile. "Goodbye Fratley."

"Farewell Frato." Fratley said before walking to follow Puck.

Frato watched as his brother walked away from him. He had hoped that their reunion would have been a more joyful occasion, but at least he knew that his brother was still alive.

* * *

Disclaimer: The only thing I own in this story is the character of Frato and Redwind. If I had the rights to Final Fantasy 9, Frato would have been a playable character at some point, as would Fratley.

Author's Notes: I am really wondering why no-one bothers to review my stories recently. Is everyone at lazy or does everyone have an aversion to Burmecian fanfiction?

Dazz Cambo: Well, Frato has given some reasoning behind his decision. Yes, it would collide with Zidane and if Frato had gone to Cleyra he would have likely appeared in the game. Plus he might have been killed at a certain event... I may decide to read your stories seeing as there isn't much good fanfiction around lately.


	8. Journey to Cleyra

Rain continued to pelt away at the war-torn city. The streets were littered with the dead and buildings lay in ruin. In amongst the wreckage was a man, a brown haired Burmecian hybrid. A lone soul burdened both physically and mentally, but determined to undo the damage done by the Alexandrian army.

Frato's first act to try and restore the city was closing the gates that lead outside onto the plains. The front gates had been forced open by the black mages and the Burmecians had opened the western gate to flee the city. Frato shut both gates so that no more monsters could enter and ravage the city. If Burmecia was to be rebuilt then it would have to be safe for civilians and workers to enter. It would be impossible to rebuild the rainy city with monsters running wild and attacking the workers.

Frato then decided to search for and kill the monsters inside the city, seeing as there was no way out for them. However, he figured that he would likely need some help to hunt and slay all the monsters efficiently and whilst he scoured the city he searched the houses and buildings for any survivors who had stayed behind.

Sealed away in the basement of one of the buildings was a group of Burmecian civilians and a few soldiers. They were gathered around in a group talking about what they were going to do and pondering whether it was safe to go outside or not. In the middle of their group conversation, they heard something bang at the door.

Everyone looked up in shock, and the females and children all ran to hide whilst the soldiers readied their weapons. Another bang at the door which had been forced shut and covered up by useless furniture. Then, there was a pause, shortly before the door burst open with a flame forcing it of its hinges. The soldiers advanced, and saw a figure emerge through the open doorway.

The soldiers then backed off when they clearly saw the figure, a Burmecian-human hybrid which many of them recognised.

"Frato?" One of the soldiers called out.

"Did you have to scare us like that? We thought you were a Black Mage, jeez..." Another soldier added.

"Look, I'm sorry about blasting the door open like that, but I had to check for survivors." Frato apologised. "I'm glad to see I'm not the only one left in Burmecia."

"Yeah, it's good to see you alive as well." One of the soldiers replied.

"Okay, the Black Mages have left, but monsters have infested the city whilst the gates were left open. I've shut the gates and taken out a few of the monsters, but I'm going to need some help if I'm going to get rid of them all." Frato explained. "Once we've taken out the monsters we can focus on the reconstruction. Now let's move out!"

"Yes sir!" The soldiers replied and began leaving the basement of the house.

* * *

Fratley and Puck had been racing across the desert, eager to reach the great tree city as soon as possible. They had seen the damage that the black mages had done to Burmecia, and Cleyra was surely going to be the next target for the Alexandrians. They had to ensure the safety of their people.

However, other worries had also entered Prince Puck's mind. He knew that Freya would have returned to the Burmecian realm once she caught wind of the attack. She would see Fratley, and discover that he had lost his memory. She couldn't see him like that, but what could he do? Fratley would not stand by and watch his own people get slaughtered.

Fratley's mind was filling with all kinds of feelings. He could not stop thinking about the death of his father, and the face of his brother Frato. How he wanted something to stir in his mind, he wanted to recall a fond memory, he wanted to feel something. He knew one thing, he would not allow the Alexandrian's to get away with this needless murdering, and he would not let them continue their warpath.

After a couple of hours of wandering through the desert, Fratley and Puck arrived in front of the massive sandstorm which shielded the great tree city. Covering their eyes with their hands, they proceeded to walk through the sandstorm, which had lost a considerable amount of power to let them do so without being blown away and having their skin torn away from their bones. Fratley figured that this was to allow the Burmecian refugees into the city. Yet they had to hurry, the Cleyrans would surely be strengthening the sandstorm soon, and the city was still at risk.

The two Burmecians made their way up the Cleyran trunk, Fratley fending off the various sand monsters that had infested the trunk. Fratley pondered for a brief moment just how many Burmecians had fled from his home only to be slain by the creatures in the tree. He cast that bitter thought out of his mind and focused on climbing the tree hastily with his companion.

After climbing for what seemed like an eternity, Fratley noted that it was beginning to get dark on the outer areas of the tree and night-time was fast approaching. The two then decided to set up camp for the night in of the outer areas of the trunk. As the pair of Burmecians sat round their campfire and ate what remained of their rations of food, Puck was quick to spark up a conversation.

"Fratley, when we get to the Cleyran city I want you to stand guard outside of the city. If the Alexandrians are going to attack the city they are gonna have to climb the trunk like we did. I want you to be my scout."

"Okay Puck. That sounds like a good idea, but are you sure you won't need me inside the city?" Fratley asked.

"I'm sure. I'm only going to be asking around in Cleyra anyway. We need to know more about these mages." Puck responded.

"Indeed." Fratley added before giving a heavy sigh. "Those mages have cost us so much..."

"Yeah..." Puck said with a solemn look.

"They killed my father..." Fratley continued. "My father is dead, and I don't feel anything. Why can't I remember my own family?"

"Fratley..." Puck stated, trying to find words. "I wouldn't worry about trying to regain your memories too much. They'll return to you someday. All you can do is wait and hope."

Fratley gave a sigh, what if they didn't come back? But Puck was right; he couldn't keep worrying about it. He had other issues at hand.

The two Burmecians rested up for the night before continuing their journey up the tree. When Puck saw that they were about to enter the settlement he got Fratley to take up a position outside the city. Puck ventured into the city to see what he could find. The young child looked at the great city in awe, admiring the view.

"This place sure is pretty..." Puck said as he walked forward. He then managed to trip over a branch as his vision was drawn away from where he was going. "Ow!"

The young Burmecian prince got back onto his feet and saw that he was standing in front of a whirling sand-pool. As Puck looked into the centre of the pool he could see a creature hiding in the darkness of the centre of the pit.

"What is that thing?" Puck wondered to himself. As he looked at the creature, his ears picked up the sound of a familiar voice.

"Puck!"

Puck turned to the source of the voice and saw a small black mage in a blue jacket and stripy blue pants. The Burmecian quickly recognised the black mage as Vivi, a young friend he had met in Alexandria who had aided him in sneaking in to watch a play.

"Vivi! What are you doing here?"

"I travelled here with Zidane, Quina and Freya." Vivi answered. "How have you been?"

Puck gave a mental curse when he heard that Freya was in the city. He knew he would be right in keeping Fratley out of the city. "I've been better. Say, just what is that thing in there?" Puck asked, pointing into the sandpit.

"That's the antlion." Vivi replied. "It's a monster that lives in the city."

"A monster eh?" Puck responded, a mischievous grin forming on his lips. He then picked up a nearby rock. "I wonder if it's playful..."

"Puck no! The tour guide warned me and Zidane not to provoke it!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Oh come on, it's not gonna do anything." Puck replied reassuringly. He then hurled the rock into the sandpit at the creature.

There was a roar from inside the sandpit and both Vivi and Puck decided it was best not to stick around. The two ran to the path that lead into the city, but Puck was too slow. The antlion emerged from the sandpit, growling with the rage and lunged at the young Burmecian, catching him onto one of its pincers.

"Help me!" Puck screamed.

"No!" Vivi squeaked.

"What's going on?" A voice called out as a Burmecian soldier arrived to investigate the ruckus. The soldier saw how Puck was being mauled and ran back into the city.

"Help! The antlion's mauling a kid!" The soldier cried.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 9 or any characters or locations in it. If I did, I probably wouldn't be writing this garbage. Frato does belong to me though.

Author's Notes: I seem to be getting very slow at updating my work. Hopefully I will pick up the pace, but you're going to have to bear with me at the moment.

Dazz Combo: Frato was frightened that the monsters would attack him in his sleep, since he had no means to protect himself when he rested. And yes, April did flee to Cleyra. I'm glad you're enjoying it though.

Lady Freya Crescent: I'm glad you like it! Keep reading!

Breeze of Summoners: It's nice to see that you're back, and with your return comes a lot of criticism. It looks like I may have to check over some of my chapters. Keep reading!


	9. Reunion

It had been a fair while since Puck had left Fratley, and he felt a little uneasy. Fratley wondered how Puck was getting on. As he sat patiently in his place outside the city, something caught Fratley's attention. A weird sound reached Fratley's ears, the sounds of magic. The Burmecian looked to see where the sound had come from. He saw the sandstorm in front of him, slowly fading away. The sound stopped, and Fratley could see the blue sky and the desert which surrounded the great tree.

"This isn't good..." Fratley thought to himself.

Fratley then thought about what to do next. He was tempted to go and find Puck, but he knew that the removal of the sandstorm would likely mean that the Alexandrians were making their way up to trunk to invade the city. He could provide some defence and confirm when the Alexandrians would enter the settlement. Fratley remained where he was but readied his spear.

It wasn't long before he could hear voices and sure enough, he found two Alexandrian soldiers marching up the trunk. Fratley leapt from his position and threw his lance down at one of the soldiers. His aim was good, and one of the soldiers fell victim of his attack. Fratley landed and quickly retrieved his spear just in time to block the attack of the other Alexandrian, and in one might swing he slashed the other soldier down.

No more soldiers arrived to challenge Fratley, and he thought it was odd that so few had come. That wasn't enough soldiers to make a decent squadron for invasion. Something was up. Before he could think about the matter further, a familiar voice called for his attention.

"Fratley!" Puck cried. "You gotta go inside the city! Black mages are teleporting into the city!"

"What?" Fratley exclaimed, before making his way up to Puck. "Where are you going Puck?"

"I'm gonna go and find Freya and her friends." Puck replied and he ran down the trunk. "They just left the city...They will provide us with some help."

Fratley nodded and headed into the city. Sure enough, Black mages were floating down from the sky in mysterious, magical coloured bubbles. The smell of fire was becoming evident and Fratley was keen to find some civilians. As he ventured further into the city, mages appeared in front of him and marched forward, chanting "KILL!" in their monotonous, murderous voices. With a few swift slashes from his lance, Fratley dispatched the mages in his path and continued forward into the city.

He managed to find a group of Burmecian soldiers who were holding back a group of Black mages. Behind the soldiers were some Cleyran priests, cowering in fear. Fratley immediately jumped into the battle and aided the Burmecians in their attempt to fight off the mages. With Fratley's help the Burmecians were able to cut down a vast number of mages, but Fratley shared the same experience as Frato did in Burmecia. No matter how many mages he and his comrades eliminated there always seemed to be plenty more to replace them.

It was only a matter of time before the resisting group of Burmecians fell. There were only a small handful of soldiers and they were grossly outnumbered by the mages. Eventually, the soldiers fell victim to the mages attacks and became wounded or were killed. Fratley and the very few Burmecians that remained had no choice but to flee.

The mages were causing havoc in the city killing anyone and anything they found. The Cleyrans and Burmecian refugees were running for cover, either fleeing towards the cathedral, trying desperately to sneak past the Alexandrian soldiers climbing up the trunk to get out of the city.

Fratley headed further up into the city and decided to leap onto the top a very tall building to catch his breath and to try and rethink things. He could see the devastation being caused by the mages very clearly from his position. There had to be something that he and his friends could do.

As Fratley thought for some desperation strategy he heard some more people coming to the base of the building he was on top of. He looked down to see a blonde haired young man with a tail, along with a small black mage and an extremely weird looking creature with a huge tongue. There was also another Burmecian, a female clad in a red coat and helmet. They were accompanying some Cleyran maidens and a Burmecian mother with her two children. Fratley began to listen in to see what was going on.

The survivors were all asking where various people where, and the two children began to start crying. The tailed man was trying to reassure them, but Fratley's sensitive ears could clearly hear him say "I hope they're all safe inside the cathedral..." The young blonde then instructed everyone. "Alright, everyone inside!"

Just as he said this, bubbles came falling down from the sky and black mages appeared in front of the group. The remaining survivors then decided to separate, only to end up running into more black mages. The tailed blonde unsheathed his daggers and ran towards one of the mages, and the rest of the strange group all readied their weapons. However, the black mages had them surrounded. It was only a matter of time before they attacked the civilians. The mages chanted together in unison.

"KILL!"

"Dammit! I can't save 'em all!" The tailed man cursed.

Fratley decided it was time to make his move. "Minions of evil, you have gone too far!" Fratley shouted down at the mages, before leaping from his spot and landing in front of the group. He knew the mages wouldn't listen, but he thought it could reassure the civilians before he made his attacks. "My spear will purge this land of you! You shall fall like leaves in the wind under the force of my blade!"

It was then he made his attack, he leapt straight at the first mage, and in one graceful stroke he managed to slay the mage. He jumped at the second mage, and killed that with a swing of his lance, before the mages could even charge its spell. The third mage fell with the same fashion. Fratley then leapt back in front of the group as he finished off the last mage.

"Now, run!" Fratley yelled at the group. Without any delay, the civilians ran into the cathedral along with the small mage and the creature with the large tongue.

"Dunno who you are, but I owe you one!" The young man said it gratitude, before following the others into the cathedral.

There was only one person who stayed behind. The mysterious Burmecian female in the red coat remained to stay with Fratley. She was looking at him, her face showing that she was amazed by his presence. Fratley noticed her presence and decided to say something.

"Come on, we'd better get inside. It isn't safe out here." Fratley stated, wondering why she had not taken his advice and what business this woman had with him.

The woman looked at him, her green eyes watching him with admiration, and a smile formed on her lips. She then held out her hand for him. Fratley, unsure as to what this gesture was, slowly held out his hand and took her own. The Burmecian female then took a firm hold on his hand and walked with him to the cathedral.

"Oh Fratley..." She cooed happily as they walked.

As she said this, a cold chill ran up Fratley's spine, and one thought entered his mind.

"How did she know my name!"

Inside the cathedral, the citizens were sharing worried conversations with each other. Some of the Burmecian citizens were mourning the loss of their loved ones. Cleyrans were worrying about the whereabouts of their friends and relatives. Yet inside the centre of the cathedral, where Zidane's group had gathered with the King of Burmecia and the Cleyran high priest, a little reunion was taking place.

"Sir Fratley, I...I have missed you so much..." Freya began; she still seemed astonished by his presence. "I began my search for you immediately after you left Burmecia. Where have you been all these years...? To what corners of the world have you travelled?" She asked him, but gave him no time to answer. "My dear Fratley... I climbed the highest mountains only to hear rumours of your victories... I searched the deepest valleys only to find your footsteps. But I never found you. And in the end, I heard something..." Freya said, before turning away from Fratley and trying to compose herself as she spoke. "Something unbearable!"

Fratley was left completely confused by this speech. He didn't know this woman...yet she clearly knew him. "Freya, you say? I believe this is the first time we have met..." Fratley stated, sounding bewildered.

Freya's heart nearly skipped a beat after he said this. She immediately turned around to look him the eyes, her face now showing her disbelief. "What...did you just say?" She asked, looking aghast.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot remember you for the life of me..." Fratley apologised, whilst he cursed his lost memory inside.

"Y-You jest! You cannot have forgotten me!" Freya shouted, before she ran up to him and shook him by the shoulders. "It's me, Freya! Freya of Burmecia!"

"I am sorry..." Fratley apologised again. He could see the sadness and disappointment in Freya's eyes, and he couldn't help feeling incredibly guilty.

"No..." Freya cried out, as she backed off and lowered her head.

"Hey, wait a minute! You can't be serious!" Zidane decided to interrupt as he ran between the two. "It's Freya, your lost love! How could you forget her?" There was a pause as he waited for a response. "Well, say something!"

"That is enough, Zidane..." Freya said weakly.

"What!" Zidane cried in disbelief. "You've been searching for this guy for years, and now he's right here!"

"Fratley! Do you remember me, the King of Burmecia?" Another person decided to enter this startling discussion.

"Not at all, I'm afraid." Fratley answered apologetically.

"Impossible! Have you forgotten everything that has passed?" The King responded in surprise. "Then let me ask you this: What brought you back to Burmecia? Is it not because you learned of the crisis here in Cleyra, whose people are our brothers?"

"As a matter of fact..." Fratley began.

"As a matter of fact, I'll tell ya!" A young voice called out from the room's entrance. Puck ran into the room and stopped before Freya and Fratley.

"Puck!" Everyone said in a startled tone.

"I found Fratley during my travels around the world! And you guessed it; he didn't know who I was! Or even who he was!" Puck explained to the group. "But when Burmecia was attacked and he heard that Cleyra was in danger... His faint memories as a dragon knight called him back here!"

"Dragon knight..." Fratley said, recalling his title. "Yes, I was once called that... But now, that is all I can remember..."

"Fratley..." Freya said, feeling pity for her love.

"I must go." Fratley stated firmly, and with one swift leap, he leapt straight out of the cathedral.

"Freya, aren't you gonna follow him?" Zidane asked curiously.

"No..." Freya answered, having a hard fight against tears. "I am happy simply knowing that Sir Fratley still lives."

"I'm sorry, Freya." Puck apologised. "I knew you weren't ready to see him, but with

Cleyra under attack and all..."

"I need no such courtesy, Highness." Freya said gruffly.

"Uh...well, I'm gonna go after Fratley! Later!" Puck chirped before running out of the cathedral, knocking over Vivi as he ran out.

"Wait, Puck! I have not seen you in ages!" The King cried out, but to no avail. The young prince wasn't coming back.

* * *

Disclaimer: Only Frato and Redwind belong to me. Everything else in this story belongs to Square.

Author's Notes: Well, not only has this story not been getting the attention I think it deserves, I've also had a computer-hogging sister hindering my fan-fiction. Not only that, but I've found these seems people still want to nark at a story I wrote THREE YEARS AGO! That, plus the person behind these links refuses to acknowledge that I have moved on since then. S/he thinks all my recent stories (the Sentinel trilogy) is all Marty-Stu stuff and is complete rubbish...without even looking at it. If s/he paid attention, he'd know I made up with Guardian 1 a while back.

Dazz Cambo: I'm glad you like it. There is another game event here, but it will be the last one. Now I can write something that is pure original work. Keep reading!


	10. Annihilation

Fratley landed from his jump and continued to hurry away from the cathedral. He couldn't stay with her, not now. The guilt was unbearable; having to watch the heartbroken Freya break down in front of him was too much for him. As he continued to run back into the city, the same annoying young voice called out to him.

"Fratley! Wait!" Puck shouted, running up behind Fratley. The Dragon Knight turned to see what Puck wanted. The young prince stopped in front of Fratley and caught his breath, before starting a rant. "Fratley, you big dope! What was that all about! Why did ya run off like that?"

"I couldn't stay...she looked so upset about me, I couldn't keep watching her like that..." Fratley explained himself, feeling rather awkward with himself.

"Yeah, but it isn't safe out here! The black mages are still attacking the city!" Puck replied, showing very little sympathy. "Just where are ya going anyway?"

"I'm leaving..." Fratley answered. "We are grossly outnumbered by those black mages, and I can't slay them all by myself."

"But you can't just run away! What about the citizens?" Puck protested. "What about your duty as a Dragon Knight?"

"They should be safe in the cathedral, they have warriors to protect them. I have done all I can." Fratley stated, before he realised something. "Puck, does it seem to you like there are fewer mages in the city?"

"Huh? Yeah...I can't hear as many of them..." Puck responded, noticing Fratley's observation. "Maybe the Alexandrian forces are weakening..."

"No, something is wrong..." Fratley said, a worried expression appearing on his face. "Come on Puck, we have to leave!"

"What's the matter?" Puck asked, curious as to Fratley's sudden change in expression.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling..." Fratley answered, as he grabbed Puck's hand and began to run towards the city entrance. "But I know that we need to get out of here..."

"Shouldn't we go and warn the citizens at the cathedral?" Puck asked, having trouble keeping up with Fratley's pace and nearly being dragged along.

"No, there are still black mages in the city, and it would cost more lives than it would be worth." Fratley replied, still looking uneasy.

Puck didn't feel it was a good idea to leave the Cleyran's stuck in the cathedral. The black mages could still get to them, but they did have Freya and her group of friends to guard them.

"Yeah, let's just get out of here." Puck said, before following Fratley as they ran toward the city entrance. The two Burmecians tried to avoid contact with any of the mages, and Fratley quickly felled any mage they couldn't avoid. Fratley then decided to lift up the Burmecian prince and jump across the buildings and get a quicker escape route.

The two Burmecians were out of the settlement in a matter of moments, and Fratley wasted no time in leaping down the tree trunk. They were gaining ground quickly, and would soon be out of the sandy city. As Fratley leapt down the tree, he noticed a Cleyran Oracle running down the tree as well. Somehow the Cleyran had sneaked past the Alexandrians and mages and was also trying to flee from the city.

"Hey!" Fratley called out to the Cleyran, as he landed behind her.

The Cleyran squeaked with terror and turned around instantly. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was a Burmecian who had seen her.

"Come with us." Fratley asked the Cleyran. "We need to get out of here."

The Cleyran quickly followed Fratley and Prince Puck, who was wriggling in Fratley's grip, desperately wanting to be put down. Fratley continued to leap down the tree, with the Cleyran priest struggling to keep up with Fratley's leaps and bounds. As the group of Burmecians were nearing the base of the trunk, something strange happened.

Darkness appeared in the sky above them, with a strange orange beam of light glowing from the dark. Fratley noticed this unnatural phenomenon and quickened his pace to get out of the city. From the darkness came forth a warrior on horseback. The dark eidolon warrior Odin charged down from the sky and threw his legendary Zantesuken blade at the Cleyran tree. The attack destroyed the entire city with a raging tempest of intense flames before the entire tree was annihilated with a gigantic explosion.

Fratley, Puck and the Cleyran were all thrown forward by the explosion, just managing to get out of the city in time. They landed rather painfully in the desert sands. Fratley struggled back up onto his feet, still feeling rather shaken up from the impact. Puck also got onto his feet, and was happy that he was free from Fratley's grasp.

"Yeow! What was that?" Puck exclaimed as he stood back up. As he turned to look at what he thought was Cleyra, his jaw dropped as his eyes widened with shock.

There was a brief silence, as the three Burmecians took in what had just happened. The silence was broken by the sobs and cries of the Cleyran, who broke down at the loss of her home and friends.

"Freya..." Fratley said mournfully. "No..."

"Dad...Vivi..." Puck said in a similar fashion, whilst fighting back tears. "Damn you Alexandrians! Go to hell already!" Puck screamed angrily as a tear ran down his cheek.

It was a grim moment as the three mourned over the ashes that were once Cleyra. After a few moments, Fratley went over and tried to comfort the Cleyran, and Puck looked around to see if there were any other survivors. Apparently, two of the shrine maidens had escaped, along with a strange creature with a big tongue.

"Aiya! That was huge explosion! I nearly become pot roast!" The strange creature said, before waddling up to Puck and Fratley. The creature pointed at Puck before speaking again. "I remember you! I helped rescue you from Antlion in Cleyra! I Quina, what your name?"

"I'm Puck..." The young prince stammered. He then gestured towards Fratley "This is Fratley. How did you survive?"

"I made powerful shield with blue magic..." Quina responded simply. "I also shielded these people who followed me." Quina moved its hand to point at the two shrine maidens, who Puck had seen in the cathedral.

Both of the shrine maidens: Shannon and Sharon were crying over the destruction of their city, just like the other Cleyran Oracle had. Fratley went and comforted them as well. Fratley went back to the centre and talked to Puck, and everyone introduced themselves. It turned out the Cleyran that escaped with Fratley and Puck was called Kildea.

"Come on everyone, we'd better set off back to Burmecia. We need to find some shelter before sunset." Fratley told the entire group, before leading them towards Burmecia.

"I can't believe Freya and Vivi are gone..." Puck said grimly to himself as they marched towards Burmecia.

"They still alive!" Quina spoke up, hearing Puck's words. "They follow black mages through these weird blue bubbles. I no like heights, so I no follow them."

"Really!" Puck said, feeling brighter with these words. Quina replied by nodding, causing its large tongue to flap up and down. "You hear that Fratley? Freya's still alive!"

Fratley gave a little smile, he felt easier now that he knew the woman had survived. There was so much he needed to know from her. Puck also looked happier, the fact that Vivi survived was a strong thought, which helped ease the pain of the destruction of Cleyra. Fratley also pondered the possibility of other citizens escaping Cleyra's destruction by teleporting with the mages as he walked with the other survivors back to Burmecia.

* * *

The reconstruction of Burmecia was making good progress, but Frato knew it would be a long time before the city looked as glorious as it was before the attack. He and the other Burmecians succeeded in finishing off the monsters in the city and building work was already taking place.

Frato had taken charge of supervising the reconstruction effort, and he was glad to see everyone making a great effort to restore their home. After he felt everyone had a suitable job to busy themselves with, he decided to go into the western mountains to obtain some of the minerals they needing for the building work. There was another reason as to why Frato had chosen this task; he had been residing in Redwind's cave, which was located conveniently nearby. Although Frato sometimes slept with the Burmecians in the city and occasionally had to take up guard duty for the night shift, he didn't want to leave the red dragon for too long.

During the periods of time where he had to rest from his work in the reconstruction of the rainy city, Frato stayed in the mountains and spent his time training with the red dragon. Frato knew that this was not going to be last war Burmecia would have, and he wanted to make sure he could protect the city from falling into ruin a second time. With this in mind, Frato trained fiercely with his dragon companion.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9. Surely you know this by now? You must be pretty ignorant if you don't know already.

Author's Notes: Well that concludes this story. Sorry for the long update, although none of you seem to care. Why is no-one reading this story? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.


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